There are cities where, even if we think about it a lot, we cannot understand how humans were able to settle there. Imagine a city where no one is born, it is forbidden to dieyou have to leave your car unlocked, you have to walk with a shotgun or you might freeze to death.
If you think of a place like this, the first thing you will imagine is that it is Russia or a former Soviet republic. However, This city has a high standard of living and is part of Norway.
The unusual Norwegian town where carrying a hunting rifle is mandatory
We Norwegians are used to having traditions that we Spaniards don’t understand, but living surrounded by bears and at risk of frostbite is beyond our imagination.
This place is the Isolated Svalbard archipelago in Norway. Where nearly 3,000 people live, it has two nurseries, a school and a university. Yes, indeed, Bear population exceeds human population: They exceed three thousand individuals.
One of the most surprising features of Svalbard is that the inhabitants are The law requires carrying a firearm to protect yourself from polar bears. Therefore, if you do not carry a hunting rifle outside the Longyearbyen metropolitan area, you run the risk of being fined.
This measure makes sense if we take into account that the bear is a very dangerous animal, and particularly aggressive if it is hungry. Of course, carrying a rifle does not give you the right to shoot without justification, according to the laws of Svalbard.
Bears are heavily protected and If you shoot, they will do a very thorough investigation.to find out if you acted in self-defense or if you did things you shouldn’t have.
For the same reason, It is also recommended to leave all cars unlocked. This way you make it easier to escape in case a bear attacks a citizen.
The city where being born and dying is illegal
In Longyearbyen hospital, the official language (Norwegian) is not used, but the language of use is English. In addition, they are not willing to attend births, so to have children, women have to travel to a nearby town on the mainland. This means that there are technically no births in Svalbard..
In addition, Dying in Longyearbyen is absolutely forbidden. In fact, his cemetery has not received new corpses since 1950. The aim is to prevent the decomposing corpses from attracting bears or, due to the frost, infectious diseases from being transmitted.
This caused Terminally ill patients must be transported to other parts of Norwaywhere they must also be buried. However, the law allows the family to cremate the body and scatter it in certain areas of the city.
